Director of Culinary Operations

Director of Culinary Operations/BOH Operations Director

New York City | Multi-Unit Hospitality Group

Salary: $125,000–$135,000 Base + Performance Bonus + Competitive Benefits

Employment Type: Full-Time

The Opportunity

PERSONE NYC is partnering with a growing, independently owned NYC hospitality group seeking an experienced, hands-on Director of Culinary Operations/BOH Operations Director to lead and optimize culinary operations across multiple concepts, including restaurants, bakery and pastry production, catering, and culinary development.

This is an exciting opportunity for an entrepreneurial culinary operations leader who thrives on building systems, developing teams, improving profitability, and supporting long-term business growth.

This is not a traditional Executive Chef position. The focus is on operational leadership, financial performance, production efficiency, organizational development, and creating scalable systems that support future expansion.

The ideal candidate brings strong multi-unit and multi-concept experience, exceptional operational discipline, and the ability to balance daily execution with strategic planning.

Key Responsibilities

Multi-Unit Culinary Leadership

• Oversee all back-of-house operations across multiple restaurants and culinary production departments.
• Lead, mentor, and develop Executive Chefs, kitchen managers, production leaders, and culinary teams.
• Evaluate existing operations, staffing structures, workflows, and performance.
• Establish consistent operating standards, accountability, and measurable performance objectives.
• Collaborate directly with ownership and senior leadership on operational strategy.

Operational Systems & Production Efficiency

• Develop and implement scalable SOPs, production manuals, recipes, and quality-control systems.
• Improve production planning, inventory management, portion control, and waste reduction.
• Evaluate opportunities for centralized production, commissary operations, and shared resources.
• Optimize kitchen layouts, equipment utilization, labor efficiency, and overall productivity.
• Ensure consistency and operational excellence across all culinary concepts.

Financial Performance & Cost Management

• Oversee food costs, purchasing, inventory, labor productivity, and culinary profitability.
• Establish financial targets and performance metrics across departments.
• Negotiate with vendors and suppliers to improve purchasing efficiency and product quality.
• Analyze recipe costs, production yields, and operational expenses.
• Partner with ownership and finance teams on budgeting, forecasting, and capital investments.

Team Development & Leadership

• Build strong culinary leadership teams across multiple locations and production facilities.
• Implement effective hiring, onboarding, training, and performance-management processes.
• Develop leadership accountability and succession-planning strategies.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture focused on operational excellence.

Bakery, Catering & Culinary Production

• Oversee operational execution across bakery, pastry, catering, and specialized culinary production departments.
• Manage production capacity, staffing, scheduling, quality, and cost controls.
• Support large-volume catering operations and production forecasting.
• Collaborate with culinary development teams to implement new products and menu initiatives efficiently.

Expansion & Strategic Growth

• Work closely with ownership to develop operational systems supporting future locations and business growth.
• Create standardized procedures, training programs, and scalable kitchen models.
• Participate in new restaurant openings, kitchen design, equipment planning, and staffing strategies.
• Support potential national and international expansion, including franchise-ready operating systems.

Food Safety & Compliance

• Maintain high standards of sanitation, food safety, storage, and quality assurance.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable health department regulations.
• Implement consistent food safety training and monitoring across locations.

Ideal Candidate Profile

Required Qualifications

• Proven senior-level culinary operations experience within a multi-unit restaurant group, hospitality organization, or food production company.
• Strong multi-concept experience across different culinary and production environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in food costs, purchasing, inventory, labor management, and operational systems.
• Experience leading multiple chefs, kitchen managers, and production teams.
• Proven ability to develop SOPs, improve operational efficiency, and deliver measurable financial results.
• Strong financial acumen, organizational skills, and hands-on leadership abilities.
• Comfortable working directly with ownership in a growing, entrepreneurial environment.

Highly Preferred

• Experience overseeing restaurants alongside bakery, catering, commissary, or large-scale production operations.
• Background supporting new openings, multi-market expansion, or franchise development.
• Experience creating scalable systems for growing hospitality brands.
• Ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on operational execution.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $125,000–$135,000 annually
• Performance-Based Bonus: Additional compensation; structure being finalized
• Benefits: Competitive benefits package
• Schedule: Full-time, with flexibility based on operational needs
• Location: New York City

Compensation flexibility may be considered for exceptional candidates with highly relevant multi-unit leadership and expansion experience.

Why Join?

This is a unique opportunity to join a growing hospitality organization at an important stage of its development.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on culinary operations, develop talented teams, implement scalable systems, and help shape the organization's next phase of growth.

If you're a hands-on culinary operations leader with a passion for building teams, improving systems, and scaling hospitality concepts, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply confidentially through PERSONE NYC.

www.personenyc.com